Lockers for rental have traditionally been configured to enable people to deposit coins, such as quarters, into the locks, which have traditionally been mechanical, coin-operated locks. Upon the locks receiving certain monetary value, a person can turn a key from an unlocked position to a locked position with a door of a locker being rented in a closed position, and, upon being turned to the locked position, the key can be withdrawn from the lock. The person can later access the locker by inserting the key back into the lock and turning the key back to the unlocked position.
While the coin-operated locks provide a certain level of convenience for users, the coin-operated locks have limitations. For example, society has been transitioning from a cash-based payment society to a card-based payment society. Thus, people are now as much or more comfortable with using credit cards, debit cards, or prepaid cards as they are using cash, and often do not carry cash, especially to entertainment and activity venues, such as amusement parks and ski slopes, where coin-operated lockers are generally located. Another problem that exists with coin-operated lockers is that people can lose the key and be inconvenienced when needing to access the locker. Of course, in the event of a lost key, the locker owner is inconvenienced and costs result by having to replace the lost keys.
Because the lockers are expensive to replace, owners of the coin-operated lockers tend to not replace the coin-operated lockers despite their shortcomings, as described above. These lockers are generally durable and formed of stainless steel, so last for many years for both the locker owner and facility owner, which, in some cases, are one and the same.